


Memory Box

by tii_puu



Category: Natsume Yuujinchou | Natsume's Book of Friends
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-07
Updated: 2017-02-07
Packaged: 2018-09-22 16:03:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9615275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tii_puu/pseuds/tii_puu
Summary: Takashi is feeling down and Nyanko-sensei tries to help.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by the 'Sadness' prompt in my GenpromptBingo card.

Takashi probably believes he's being quiet as he crawls out of the futon and towards the corner where the box holding his grandmother's things stands. 

Nyanko-sensei opens one of his eyes a sliver. 

The light of the full moon fills the room and Takashi doesn't need any more illumination to open the box and rummage inside. 

Nyanko-sensei, who doesn't need moonlight to see him clearly even in the middle of the night, observes him intently for a while. 

Takashi seemed more aloof and taciturn than usual during the day, but kept tossing and turning in the futon so restlessly that Nyanko-sensei had been tempted to just scamper off and find another warm, less noisy place to sleep in. Nyanko-sensei hasn't known him long enough to be sure what the matter is with him, but he can guess fairly accurately. Takashi pulls his grandmother's things out one by one – a couple of dog-eared mangas, not the kind anyone would have expected Reiko to read; a straw hat that seems about to come apart; some hair clips; a hand mirror. Takashi turns them over in his hands, slowly, peering at them from every which angle, as if by doing so images of his grandmother would leap at him, as if he could fill the gap that separates them. He sighs whenever he's done with one of the objects and puts it on the floor. 

Finally, he pulls out Reiko's school uniform, still neatly folded. He stares unblinking at it, crumpling the musty-smelling fabric where his fingers grip it. 

“She was very beautiful, even in that odd garment,” Nyanko-sensei offers.

Takashi starts and hits the half-empty box with his knees. When he turns, Nyanko-sensei is standing right next to him.

“She looked frail, as if a gust of wind might have carried her off. But she was stronger than any human I've met in a very long time.”

Takashi's jaw clenches. “...then why did she die so soon?” 

Nyanko-sensei shrugs. He had already been trapped inside the maneki-neko when it happened. 

Takashi's eyes filled with tears. 

“If you want, I can tell you about her.”

“You...you knew her well?” Takashi stutters.

“Better than anybody else, I dare say.”

Takashi takes a deep breath and buries his face in his grandmother's uniform, probably in order not to let Nyanko-sensei see as he blinks his tears away. When he lifts his head again his wan, sad smile is plastered on his face. “Thank you,” he says, as he puts Reiko's uniform back inside the box.

“I haven't even begun, don't thank me just yet!” Nyanko-sensei scoffs. He trots towards the futon and plops down on it, and Takashi follows him.


End file.
